Storing an engine outside?

[Alvin in AZ]

I've seen a bunch of ruined engines that were left outside right side up.
Was thinking (uh oh) it'd be better to store it upside down and cover (or flip) the exhaust manifolds.
What do you think? :)

Alvin in AZ
ps- USAF sez Tucson's weather is -the best- in the USA to store their airplanes outside.
pps- '90 351w F250 parts truck engine

[fordman]

the next time i have to do this. i am going to build a dog house and put the engine under it. the dog house wont have a hole to get in or a floor. it will just be a little house with four walls and a roof that will fit right over the engine.

i have seen them upside down before. i don't know how good the manifold to head seal would be against the rain.

[Alvin in AZ]

i have seen them upside down before.
i don't know how good the manifold to head seal would be against the rain.

Good point. :)
Maybe silly-cone 'em up without gaskets? :)
Will the exhaust manifolds go on upside down on FE's and/or 351W's? :)
Looks like they would from here, is all.
But haven't got them apart to find out on my own. :/

I've never seen one stored upside down, just got to thinking about it and how difficult it
would be to keep it covered without building something for it, like you're talking about.

Alvin in AZ

[bb429power]

At least cover it with a trash bag.

[Dragon]

If you just cover it moisture will still get in. We used to fire the motor and let it run for 30 seconds. Then we poured ATF down the intake and turned the motor by hand.

We then pulled the plugs and put plastic caps or old scrap plugs in the holes and taped the plugs to the valve covers.

We pulled the carb drained it of fuel and filled the float bowls with ATF. Then wrapped it in thick cheese cloth which we sprayed with LPS.

We made a bakelite or aluminum carb plate and closed the carb hole.

We filled the crankcase with 10 quarts of oil and put it on the cradle and covered it with plastic. (5 quart pan) Under the plastic we put one of those moisture indicators and sealed the bag with duct tape. All tis was done before the engine got to room temperature this forced the moisture out.

Once a year the engine was unsealed and turned by hand(wrench).

These were ready response engines for overseas operations. When we unsealed them we drained the pan, pulled the plug covers and removed the intake cover put in the right amount of oil and spun the motor. Then carb, plugs, dizzy cap and wires went on and the motor was fired up then installed.

They always started if the oil got out of the carbs.

[averagef250]

We have a lot of rain here. An engine, or anything ferrous, will get damaged by the weather sooner or later.

If you need to store it for a long time fill the entire thing pan, cylinders, intake with motor oil (even used motor oil) all the way to the top. Filled like this, even if water gets in the likely hood of anything rusting is small.

[cep62]

If you need to store it for a long time fill the entire thing pan, cylinders, intake with motor oil (even used motor oil) all the way to the top. Filled like this, even if water gets in the likely hood of anything rusting is small.

To add to this have a way to contain the oil when it seeps out , so it doesn't contaminate the ground.
and oil is lighter than water so if you got a lot of water in it will settle to the bottom , and could displace the oil.

[Dragon]

We never had that problem on the engines we stored. We really did seal the engines in plastic and displaced the moisture before the sealing was done with heat.